Western Europe lived through hottest June and July ever recorded

Western Europe experienced its hottest June-July on record as climate change fuels an historic summer of heat, drought and wildfires across the region, the EU's global warming monitor said Monday. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and the first two months of summer have been marked by successive heatwaves, scorching temperatures and bone-dry conditions. The Copernicus Climate Change Service said the combined average temperature in western Europe for June-July was 21.62C – beating the 2022 record for the same period. This reflected "the exceptional persistence of heat" so far this summer, Copernicus said. Levels of soil moisture were "significantly lower" than in July 2022 when the last severe drought gripped western Europe, Copernicus added. Europe: huge scale of heatwaves across the continent in 2026 © Nalini Lepetit-Chella, Valentina Breschi, AFP "This is a clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought increasingly reinforcing one another," said Samantha Burgess from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus. Very dry conditions were observed in July across western and central Europea...